CJ Stander: Munster must up the ante big time

CJ Stander is under no illusions he and Munster will need a major step up in class if they are to hold their own against French Top 14 champions Racing 92 in Paris on Sunday.

Munster’s final Guinness PRO12 game before switching focus to their Champions Cup pool campaign this weekend ended in a deserved 25-14 defeat to arch rivals Leinster on Saturday in Dublin.

While Ronan O’Gara’s Parisians were putting a disappointing start to the domestic title defence to bed with a derby victory of their own, a 29-22 win over Stade Francais at Stade Yves du Manoir, Munster were contributing to their own downfall at the Aviva.

Conceding three tries to Leinster — two which were borne of sloppy defensive work and decision-making — Munster also failed to make the most of their own chances and Stander promised the build-up to the European opener would be fuelled in part by anger at being architects of thier own downfall.

Blaming “silly mistakes” for the concession of tries to Isa Nacewa and sub scrum-half Jamieson Gibson-Park, Stander said: “If we can cut those out then it is game on. I heard our turnover stats were 13. That’s not acceptable but it’s something we can fix.

“I won’t say it’s the end of the world but it’s not ideal to perform on a weekend like this and make those mistakes.

“For the big games, you have to step up and hopefully we’ll take a reality check and go into next week and fix that.

“Luckily we know we need to step up. It’s not like we’re on a level now where we’re fine and everything is going good. I think there’s a bit of bitterness and a bit of hurt and that’s going to be good for next week, training-wise and going into Paris.”

Stander took solace in the way Munster had rebounded from their only previous defeat this season under new director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, a 24-23 loss at home in Cork to Cardiff Blues by putting things right the following week on the road at Newport Gwent Dragons.

“I think that’s a good sign. It wasn’t ideal and I think, that (Cardiff) match especially, we let ourselves and the coaches down.

“I won’t say there’s a similarity between the matches but we used that one and we’re going to use this one for sure to fix our mistakes.”

Of the reaction of Erasmus and his coaches to Saturday’s loss in Dublin, Stander added: “Look, they’re all straight shooters.

“He walked in and said ‘we need a reality check, that was just 14 points we gave away that we shouldn’t have’.

“We knew there were a lot of opportunities and there was some good stuff — I think there was a lot of good stuff anyway.

“I wouldn’t say we were outplayed but if you could take those two tries away I think it would have been game on at the end.

“So he told us that and going into next week, we will stick together because we know we have to step up for Racing.”

Stander said there are positives to take from Munster’s forward play in defeat to Leinster that would stand to his side as the province turns to Europe and two important pool games, the second of which will see Pro12 rivals Glasgow Warriors visit Thomond Park six days after the game in Paris.

“The set-piece in the first- half and in the second-half the forwards stepped up and the lineout was especially good.

“In the last few weeks we’ve started mauling well again and the link between forwards and backs (was impressive). That’s something that hasn’t happened in a while and that’s good.”